(Jakarta, Indonesia): We were very lucky to visit some beautiful places over the last few weeks. Some different views from a few of the places we stayed:
In Langkawi (left) we were right on the beach and when it wasn't raining we could venture out to the water just a few steps away. Interestingly, in Malaysia, just above the equator, it was rainy season, but in Indonesia, just below the equator, it was dry season. Hm... So once we got to Bali (middle), we had absolutely beautiful weather and ample opportunity to enjoy our ocean view. Central Java (right), just an hour flight away, is surrounded by volcanoes which hold the clouds over the valley. Still, the view from our terrace of the surrounding landscape is gorgeous, full of farms, rice fields and small villages.
One morning, we couldn't resist getting up early to hop on bikes and explore the area, which is famous for Borobodur, the largest buddhist temple in the world. The more famous Angkor Wat in Cambodia is a larger complex with multiple structures, but Borobodur consists of a single huge structure (more about that in a future post).
Of course, we eventually found ourselves at another market. We paid 1000 Rupiah each
(about $0.10) to have someone watch our bikes so we could walk around inside. We wondered whether our bikes would be there when we returned, but the Javanese seem like nice people. They work really hard and were very friendly to us.
That evening we trekked up the Menoreh hills above the resort to watch the sunset. Unfortunately, the sun didn't cooperate, refusing to come out from behind the clouds.
To warm us up after a long jeep ride back down in the dark, the hotel prepared a rose petal bath in our outdoor tub, which was waiting for us when we returned to our room. A nice touch and a very nice surprise. Unfortunately we couldn't linger too long since we had massage appointments waiting for us. Life is rough!
(Bali, Indonesia): Chris and I had some amazing food experiences in Bali these last 10 days. The first was a
tour of the fish market at Jimbaran (southwestern Bali). Even at 7 in the morning, the beach was crowded with fishermen, buyers, boat cleaners and kids.
We bought amazing seafood (king prawns, grouper, red snapper, oysters and squid) for not very much money and brought it back to the hotel for the chef to turn into two fabulous meals. Here’s our squid at the market in the morning and on the table in the afternoon (cooked two ways: stir fried with vegetables and deep fried with chili sauce. Yum!)
A few days later, we moved to a different spot in the center of Bali and took a cooking class. We visited a local market as well, but this time, we made the meal ourselves (with the help of four sous chefs from the hotel).
Women dominate these markets selling everything from rice to chiles to palm sugar to potatoes. We’re the only tourists and stick out like sore thumbs, though I can blend in a little.
Balinese women are amazing. They can walk with heavy baskets balanced on their heads (no hands!) with absolutely no trouble at all. We saw one woman on the back of a motorbike with a huge sack of potatoes balanced on her head! Chris tries it himself with our market basket, as an older woman looks on amused.
What makes the cooking class great is that it’s private, just Chris and me, and we’re not cooking at the hotel, but at a local Balinese home. 
I slice up red chiles, 
shallots and garlic for a chili paste to flavor the jukut gedang mekuah, or green papaya soup, then grind it all up by hand with a mortar and pestle. Entirely from scratch nothing from a jar. This is hard work.
Chris makes a gorgeous yellow curry paste with turmeric and galangal, which I then 
have to heat up in a pot to release the flavors, stirring it constantly so it doesn’t burn. But the wooden spoon isn’t tall enough to clear the top of the pot so my hand is searing from the steam. Over my shoulder the chef shouts, “Don’t burn the curry, Ibu.” (pronounced "ee-boo" which means Mrs. or madam).
When that’s done, I help with the next dish, nasi sela, or rice with diced sweet potatoes, which is steamed in a basket over a wood fire. The wood flavors the rice with a delicious smoky flavor that you just don’t get cooking it on a stove or in a rice cooker.
I poke my head to take a whiff of the seafood curry Chris is making, then scurry over to complete the salad, a mix of chopped blanched spinach, fiddlehead fern tips, kidney beans, sambal, curry, coconut, and diced long beans. I could almost become a vegetarian if I could eat like this every day.
In the photo on right, one of the chefs shows off a few of our finished dishes:
- urap campur (balinese mixed vegetable salad)
- be pasih mebase bali (balinese seafood curry)
- tumis pakis (sauteed fiddlehead fern tips)
Before we eat, we make an offering. The Balinese practice Hindu (unique in the rest of Indonesia which is Muslim) and make a daily offering in the family temple. We dress in sarongs and walk with the ibu to her family’s temple at the edge of the compound.
Afterward we enjoy the fruits of our labors. The sous chefs set up a beautiful lunch for us under a private bale at the other end of the compound overlooking the lush green Ayung valley. A special way to wrap up the experience.
(Bali, Indonesia): Traveling in Asia for the last couple of weeks has really stirred my creative juices. So, not wanting to get off-topic on my business blog, The Stealth Networker, yet feeling the need for another outlet, I started The Jet Set Gourmet as my personal blog.
Here I am sitting in a bale (pronounced "bah-lay," a big open-air sunbed with a thatched roof) on the private beach of our resort, with wireless access compliments of this guy. Yes, the resort has the beach wired for internet access. Totally crazy, but I wouldn’t mind working like this all the time!
It’s high tide right now though, with the water often coming right up to the edge of the bale, and sometimes underneath it (that's why you see one of the beach chair cushions on a tree branch behind me). Good thing I didn’t leave my flip flops on the sand!
Stay tuned for more posts and pictures…
